*A-Class BUSINESS* @Alphatise, a brand new Australian Start-up Launches today! Alphatise promises a good deal for shoppers AND retailers. The retail sector has borne the brunt of digital disruption for some time now, and as the buying and selling of goods becomes an online affair, a number of new entrants are looking to capitalise on the trend of the empowered customer. One such player is Sydney-based Alphatise, a social commerce start-up that is hoping to tap into the way we shop in the digital age, where the path to purchase has changed dramatically and consumers have a lot of options at their fingertips. The Alphatise online marketplace allows consumers to submit ‘wishes’ for the products they want to purchase and set the price they are willing to pay. Retailers can then come back with an appropriate offer and close the deal. Ben Nowlan, one of four co-founders of Alphatise, says that at its heart the platform is about creating a channel that not only empowers customers, but also provides retailers a far clearer picture of demand. “For sellers, the sell to demand dynamic is a powerful incentive,” Nowlan told Business Spectator. “While there are a million ways for a retailer to market their product, we wanted to create a platform that cuts away a lot of the noise, especially for smaller retailers.” Nowlan adds that by providing intelligence on buyer intent, sellers get the opportunity to “price and sell goods based on real time market demand.” More than two years in the making, getting hold of the $3 million in funding was no easy task for Alphatise, with Nowlan saying that breaking down the ‘bricks and mortar’ thinking was initially quite a challenge. “To really understand the potential of Alphatise, its scale is very, very big and the first response was pretty poor,” he said. Fortunately for Alphatise, the market has become more receptive over time and Nowlan says that there’s now a lot of interest from retailers. Social media is an important aspect of Alphatise’s overall pitch, with a particular emphasis on tapping into brand advocacy. Empowered customers play a role in marketing a particular product or a particular vendor and Nowlan says that discounts aren’t what win customers over. “People aren’t always looking for discounts, they really want a seamless experience.” One significant negative to the online shopping experience is the problems associated with complicated and expensive returns policies. A recent survey by parcel delivery start-up ParcelPoint revealed that over three quarters of online shoppers avoid returning items due to complicated returns policies or expensive return shipping costs. According to the survey, 51 per cent of Australian online shoppers admit to occasionally or never returning something because of the hassle, with 21 per cent holding onto unwanted purchases ranging in value from $100 to more than $500 Alphatise’s core product is the online platform, but Nowlan says that returns policy is a key inhibitor and its a problem that he and his team are paying careful attention to. “Right now we are creating a marketplace but we are going to have a very strict framework around returns, we only allow retailers who have a good structure around returns policy and shipping,” he says.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 23:19:51 +0000
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